Photo: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine · CC0Less serious crime per resident: Markham sits 12% under the typical Canadian town its size
The index fell from 54.6 in 2023 to 50.3 in 2025. Figures for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts are published for the York Region service area as a whole, not for Markham alone. For every 1,000 residents, 9.7 violent incidents and 21.4 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 10.8 and 25.1. Against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2, violent and non-violent offences here reach 67.4 and 47.4.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What stands out about safety in Markham
Motor vehicle theft: high for a town its size
Markham records 2.6 incidents of motor vehicle theft per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Near the Ontario middle
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 52.8 in Markham. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What Markham’s grade will weigh
No letter for now. The figures here are the real ones; the grade waits for Canada’s grading run.
Crime Severity Index
Violent crime index
Non-violent crime index
Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, 2023–2025 means. City neighbourhoods count, each with its city’s figure; city totals and reserves don’t.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Crime in Markham, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Markham runs highest on motor vehicle theft (2.6 per 1,000 against 1.7). Sexual assault and mischief sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 14.7 | 0.01 | 80% |
| Sexual violations against children | 128.7 | 0.1 | 58% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 153.7 | 0.1 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 97.7 | 0.08 | 38% |
| Robbery | 617.3 | 0.5 | 47% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 91.7 | 0.07 | 65% |
| Other violent violations | 290.7 | 0.2 | 41% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,306 | 1.8 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 291 | 0.2 | 85% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3,372.3 | 2.6 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 732.7 | 0.6 | 15% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 10,573 | 8.3 | 25% |
| Mischief | 2,944 | 2.3 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 266.3 | 0.2 | 66% |
| Administration of justice violations | 4,033.3 | 3.1 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 552.7 | 0.4 | 58% |
| Drug violations | 636 | 0.5 | 91% |
| Impaired driving | 1,207.3 | 0.9 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3,411.7 | 2.7 | 8% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Markham, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 54.6, against a low of 50.3 in 2025. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Markham | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.3 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 53.6 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 54.6 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Markham, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
1,298,900 residents, about 12,500 violent incidents a year: the police area Markham belongs to, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
And about 27,300 property crimes, plus 11,000 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Markham
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markham | 371,504 | 52.8 | 67.4 | — |
| Unionville | 17,632 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Hagerman's Corners | 43,555 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Quantztown | 13,146 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Berczy Village | 22,149 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Underwood | 5,972 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Brown's Corners | 7,228 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 6 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- Shared policing. Markham is policed by a service that covers other municipalities too, and Statistics Canada reports the service as a whole.
Questions about safety in Markham
Is Markham safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Markham comes to 52.8. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 9.7 violent incidents and 21.4 property crimes. For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the typical index is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Markham?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 8.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of fraud (5.3) and assault (4.9).
Is crime going up in Markham?
The reverse: 54.6 in 2023 came down to 50.3 by 2025, 8% lower.
How much of Markham’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 53% of violent crime and 25% of everything else, 35% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Markham and everywhere else it polices.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).